


Second Attempt at a First Date

by drericka



Category: Hotel Transylvania (Movies)
Genre: F/M, a ship captain that's too flirty for her own good, lots of smooch, wining and dining Count Dracula
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-25 23:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16208000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drericka/pseuds/drericka
Summary: Despite their wild adventure of a love story, Dracula and Ericka never even got to finish their first date. Ericka is intent on fixing that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be a oneshot but I can already feel I'm gunna make it to long so I've split it up into two chapters... perhaps I'll post the NSFW version as a oneshot instead :)
> 
> And this isn't really vital to the story, but the 'first kiss' mentioned in this chapter is from another drabble, here -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/16111616
> 
> ENJOY MY SUFFERING

Near death experiences never seemed to dampen monster spirits, and the Legacy’s maiden voyage passengers were prime examples of that—especially after the promise of _full refunds!_ So, when Johnny suggested continuing their interrupted dance party on the expansive deck of the ship, everyone was eager to, even the man that caused the interruption in the first place, Abraham Van Helsing. He had intended to keep an eye on his great-granddaughter as she danced with his former sworn enemy, Count Dracula, but got distracted with showing off his own dance moves sometime in the night, leaving his heir to her own devices.

Ericka loved dancing, and she loved dancing with Drac, but as the night wore on she found something she loved even more; teasing the poor count. During their tango through innumerable booby traps, he had seemed so cool and confident, downright flirty even, but it appeared the more Ericka danced against him, the more that awkward, boyish side to his personality shown through—and she loved it. She was always proud of her appearance, but having Count Dracula himself little more than putty in her hands was a thrill she’d only fantasized about.

That made it easy to decide what she wanted to do with the rest of her evening. She slipped her hand into Drac’s palm, giving it a beckoning squeeze before she began leading him away from the would-be DJ booth and through the crowded dancefloor. They weaved in and out between different monsters, unnoticed for the most part, until they reached the main walkway on the starboard side of the ship. Ericka smiled back at him and continued guiding him in the direction of the bow, and Drac followed along contently. He was worried for a moment why she would want to leave, but her smile reassured him that whatever the reason was, it wasn’t bad.

“Where are we going, captain?” He asked her once they’d gotten far enough away from the pounding music. Ericka stopped, and, after a quick turnaround, she decided this spot was as good as any. She leaned against the ship’s railing and crooned her neck to the side to look at him.

“I wanted to talk to you… privately.” She smiled more devilishly at the last word. Drac raised his eyebrows in surprise before laughing it off awkwardly. He joined her in leaning against the railing, trying his best to appear relaxed, regardless of whatever it was she wanted to talk about.

“Oh? About what?” He asked with a small smile. Ericka grinned at him again and her eyelids shut, tilting her head from side to side as she spoke.

“ _Oh_ , I don’t know. _You_ …” She opened her eyes to look up at him. “… _me_.”

Her smile was so flirtatious, Drac doubted that he’d ever find a night where it didn’t send his heart aflutter.

“ _Ah-hah,_ ” His laugh came out breathless. “— _well_ , those are some… _excellent_ topics!”

Ericka giggled and gave him a soft push on his arm.

“You are so _egotistical_ , Count Dracula” She laughed, and he couldn’t help joining her. Drac shook his head and set a hand over hers.

“That’s not what I meant.” He said through a chuckle. “Besides, you mentioned talking about _you_ , too. I would prefer that anyway.” 

Ericka cuddled closer to him and rested her head against his shoulder.

 

* * *

 

They talked for hours, about everything they could think of; the events of the cruise, secrets they’d kept from one another the past few days, odd adventures they’d both had throughout their lives, and of course, stories about family, laughing all the while. They stayed at the railing talking even after the far-off music had ended and most monsters had returned to their cabins for much needed rest. Only when the sky started to tinge pink did the pair realize how much time had passed.

Drac pouted at the lightening sky like a disappointed child being shooed off to bed. Ericka looked away with a nervous smile while he was distracted. Despite all of her usual conversational charm, she had still not managed to slip in the one question that she intended to ask him. She knew that he had no choice but to leave with the sunrise, so this was her last chance until much later tonight, and that just wouldn’t be as suspenseful as she liked.

Just as he turned to her to say that he unfortunately needed to leave, Ericka also turned to him and swelled up against him with her hands on his chest. Drac immediately stood straighter, shivering at the sudden contact, which made Ericka all the more self-assured.

“So~o…” Her lips pouted. “I was thinking…”

Drac felt his heart beating in his throat, and he forced a huge smile across his face to cover up his timidness.

“Th- _thinking…?_ ” He urged, hoping to move the conversation to a close before he could embarrass himself again. Ericka’s smile curled like a kitten’s, enjoying preying on her poor boyfriend.

“I was thinking since, well, our first ‘date’ was so quickly interrupted, if you would be interested in having another go at it?” She watched him with a tiny, eager smile. Drac blinked, surprised by the question at first, but grinned wide after he had a moment to process it.

“Yes! Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea.” He took her hands, nodding eagerly. Ericka stifled a squeal from her laugh as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Drac stepped back and brought her hands up to his mouth to place a kiss on her knuckles.

“I suppose I, um, I should er… return to my room, then.” He mumbled, making a quick glance to the horizon at his side. Ericka nodded, but she loved watching him squirm too much to let him get away so easily.

She slipped her fingers out of his hands and placed her palms on either side of his face, then arched up onto the tips of her toes, dragging him down into an aggressive kiss. Drac felt his body go stiff again, and the hair along the back of his head and neck stand straight. Their first kissing session was still fresh in his mind, having happened only hours earlier in the ruins below the Atlantean casino, but this kiss felt like even more of a jolt. Ericka was so bold with her actions, dragging her hands from his neck and down to his chest like she’d done so a thousand times, it made his knees weak.

“ _E-Eric-cka_ …” His face felt hot, and he wondered for a moment if he had enough blood in his system to actually blush right now. His companion grinned and chuckled softly under her breath before leading him into another kiss. Drac emitted a low sound from his throat, unintentionally exciting Ericka further. She hugged his neck and pushed their mouths together harder. She popped off with a laugh and bounced on her feet again when she released his neck. The dazed look he gave her only made her all the merrier. In an attempt to mirror her previous actions, she brought a hand up and dragged a finger down his bottom lip playfully.

“Captain’s quarters. Midnight. Don’t be late~” Her hand slid down his jaw, then neck, then shoulder as she walked away from him. Drac’s body turned to follow her hand as it left, and she gave him one more look over her shoulder before smiling and continuing her walk to the bridge of the ship.

Drac felt his features melt as he got his breath back—she was _so_ wonderful. Part of him wanted to just follow her to her quarters now, but of course, he would do the gentlemanly thing and wait for their date tonight. Just the thought of that word, ‘date’, made him swoon. He tilted backwards against the railing, and continued tilting until he fell off of the boat. The smile didn’t leave his face as he sailed down backwards, uncaring about the sea below him. Before he could hit the water, he vanished into a cloud of purple smoke, flying off into the air as a bat. He spun a few times, enjoying the freedom this form gave him to express his excitement, before wafting to his cabin’s window, just in time to take shelter from the first rays of dawn.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Drac smoothed his collar upwards with his thumbs for the umpteenth time as he made his way to Ericka’s quarters. No number of calming breathes could ease his nerves the entire walk from his room to hers, but he tried again none the less. He reminded himself that he even had _less_ to worry about than their ‘first’ date, seeing as how Mavis actually knew that this one was happening, but his stomach was still a jumble of overly-excited knots. He had woken up painfully early at 5pm, and knew he wouldn’t be seeing Ericka until midnight; breakfast with the family and wasting time until he needed to get ready had only made him exceedingly anxious for when he would actually see her.

The count turned from the outdoor walkway and stepped up into a small stairwell, climbing from Deck 3 to Deck 5, as the helpful ship diagram instructed. He stopped in front of an ornate door and looked to the gilded plate on the wall beside it, with the words ‘Captain’s Quarters’ etched neatly on its face. One more calming breath, and he knocked on the door.

Seconds passed, and just as Drac started to worry, the door clicked and opened. Ericka greeted him with a smile, seemingly sparkling in her captain’s uniform from the twinkling lights in her room. Drac beamed, and hurried to say something charming.

“You look beautiful.” His smile tugged wider, bowing up his eyes adoringly. Ericka laughed and brushed off his comment with her hand.

“Oh, this?” She continued with a soft chuckle. “I hope it’s not disappointing. I wanted to be formal, but… well, I don’t really have any nice dresses on board.”

She mentally cursed her great-grandfather, as she had many times while she planned an outfit for the night, for refusing to allow her anything he deemed too ‘showy’. Her sunflower jumper was something Ericka had to fashion herself, and she felt it would be pathetic to wear it again tonight.

“No, not at all!” Drac insisted. “You always look lovely.”

Ericka thanked him with a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“You kidder!” She laughed, and took a moment to appreciate his darker tropical getup, which consisted of a black collared shirt with white patterning, and black pants, then grabbed his hand to lead him inside. Drac was too twitterpated to do anything but follow her in.

Once inside, Drac was awed by the immaculate living quarters of his girlfriend. Everything in the space gleamed in the light as much as Ericka did, matching her color scheme of white and gold, coupled with mahogany wood that was as polished as the white granite tiles. He walked from the entryway into the lounge, following behind his date with his hands folded behind him, and noted how well-organized and tasteful all of her décor was. Ericka noticed his gawking and puffed her chest out with pride.

“Lovely, isn’t it?” She purred, gesturing to a golden ornament on the wall. Drac nodded absentmindedly as he continued looking around.

“Everything is so perfectly placed, honey-bat.” He caught his tongue too late to stop the pet name from slipping out. Ericka snickered giddily.

“Oh, _thank you_ , honey-bat.” Her snickering continued, and Drac couldn’t keep his pout straight, smiling shyly after a moment. Ericka snorted a little and gave his chest a soft push.

“I’m just teasing you.” Her lips pursed contently, and she ushered him toward the dining room. “Come, come, let’s sit.”

Dracula craned his neck to peer over her, though he didn’t need to, to see the set dining table ahead of them. It was large enough to seat a fair amount of people, but was only decorated on one side, and only two of the chairs had tableware. His heart quickened a bit from the intimacy of it, and he reminded himself happily that he would have his own chance to woo his beloved with settings like this once they arrived back in Transylvania. Drac took the chair at the head of the table out of habit, and sat watching Ericka as she moved to the two bottles of what he assumed to be wine sitting near the table’s centerpiece.

“I had the kitchen staff whip this up for you.” Ericka grinned, showing off one of the bottles. “It’s goat blood.”

Drac perked up in surprise at that. He noticed now that while bottle’s label was for champagne, the liquid inside was thick and dark. His shoulders shrugged up nervously, unsure of how to respond.

“Er, actually,” He started. “I only drink um, blood substitutes—Blood Beaters or...”

His sentence tapered off, and Ericka straightened at the revelation.

“Oh!” She paused a moment. “Sorry, I had no idea.”

Drac felt more weight pushing his head lower until his shoulders were in his ears. He felt awful starting off their date by refusing such a nice gesture on her part. It wasn’t that he didn’t _like_ goat blood or anything, it was just that real blood could make him act a bit more monstrous, and he hated not having control of himself. He swished his mouth, debating whether he should just accept her gift anyway. While he hadn’t had real blood in quite a few decades, he was sure he could handle a few glasses without any mal-effects. Drac’s head sprung back up when she moved to likely dispose of the bottle.

“No— _no!_ ” He waved his hands at her before smiling wide. “No, please, it’s fine. I would _love_ a nice glass of goat blood, thank you.”

Ericka looked at him in confusion, trying to decide if he was genuine or just being nice. Drac’s smile tugged higher on one side, and he raised a hand to grab the bottle from her with his magic. She gasped when it floated out of her grasp and uncorked itself, tilting to pour into the glass Drac had taken up in his free hand. He bobbed it at her as thanks, then brought it to his lips to sip.

“May I?” He offered politely, lifting the other bottle with his magic as well. Ericka followed his eyes to it, then to her empty glass on the table. She giggled and took her seat, raising her glass for him to pour for her, and squealing in delight from the forceful pop of the cork.

 

* * *

 

Drac hummed a slurred laugh and brushed a droplet of stray blood off of his upper lip with his tongue. It tasted so good, he couldn’t even remember the last time he let himself indulge like this. He was two glasses in, and had no want to stop there. Ericka had also just polished off her second glass of wine, and was in just as bubbly of a mood as he was.

“So,” She leaned on the table a little, giving him a baiting smile that he was quickly learning to recognize. “—a _zing_ huh?”

Drac closed his eyes and nodded contently. He was expecting that to come up eventually.

“Yes, a zing.” He tilted his head in her direction.

“How does that all work, then?” She raised a brow curiously. Dracula gave his chin a rough rub while he tried to concentrate.

“As I said in the ruins, it’s like love at first sight, for monsters.” Drac smiled at her warmly. “You see your soulmate for the first time, and it’s just like, _zing!_ —you wanna be with them forever.”

“So, like imprinting?” Ericka pressed her chin into her palm in thought. Her companion gave her a frown.

“ _Do I look like a baby duck to you?_ ” Drac huffed, then paused. After a moment of reflection, he looked away toward the ceiling. “Well, yes, I suppose it’s sort of like that.”

Ericka cackled in response, but was interrupted by her phone ringing. She excused herself from the table and cheerfully answered the wall phone. From what he could hear, Drac surmised it was the ship’s kitchen calling.

“How would you like your steak prepared, Drac?” She asked with the phone pressed to her collar. “Rare?”

Again, Drac hesitated. He usually tried to get his meats cooked as thoroughly as possible as another attempt to stay away from any lingering animal blood—but steak was _so good_ raw. He chewed his lip and looked into his stemmed glass, watching the remaining liquid bobble back and forth inside. With a shrug, he decided he’d already come this far, what was the harm in a little more indulgence.

“Warm.” He answered finally.

“Warm… pink?” Ericka asked again, wanting to clarify.

“Just warm.” Drac gave her a grin that showed off his fangs, and Ericka realized with an enthused giggle what he meant.

“Got it.” She gave him a wink and turned back to the phone. “— _Warm_ for Count Dracula. I mean the temperature, not the color.”

A beat.

“…And _no_ garlic in anything. Thanks.”

 

* * *

 

Ericka tilted back against the white leather of her arm chair, laughing as Drac tried to finish his story from the lounge opposite her.

“—and so I’ve already made an ass of myself, right? With the “his kind” comment, and now Griffin’s mad,” Drac waved his hand dismissively with a laugh, a blush evident on his cheeks from one too many glasses of blood. “And I’m trying to tell them that it doesn’t matter either way, because Johnny left—and of _course_ right then, _he falls out of the ceiling and into my lap_.”

He tried to keep a straight face as he hurried out the end of his sentence, but broke into a cackle anyway. Ericka joined him, unable to keep her laughter quiet with her hand.

“No!” She smiled in disbelief but Drac shook his head.

“Yes! He fell right out of the damned ceiling.” Drac rubbed his eyes, chuckling at the memory. “Curse that kid. He’s a good one though, you know, after everything was settled.”

“Yeah.” Ericka breathed. She relaxed against the seat again, holding her glass close while she watched him. “He’s a good dad. Your family is so precious.”

Drac felt his blush spread further at the comment, and tried to chuckle it away.

“Thank you.” He smiled back at her. “My family means the world to me.”

He watched her eyes bat into a relaxed, loving stare, and was quickly aware of the sudden lull in conversation. Dinner was delightful and full of continuous chit-chat about work and family, and it carried over to the living area where they retired after their meal. Now quiet, the mood of the room seemed to shift into something much more intimate, and it made him nervous. Drac tried to rack his brain for something appropriate to the previous topic, hoping to continue talking rather than need to break the ice for something steamier. Before he could, Ericka fluidly set her glass on the side table and stood. Drac hardly had time to think before she was in front of him, and then straddling his lap.

“ _Ericka…!_ ” He gasped, looking down at where she was sitting on his thighs. Ericka snickered and placed her hands on his collar, leaving him no time to say anything else before she pressed her mouth to his. Drac’s eyes went wide in surprise, but they slowly closed as Ericka pepper kisses on him. He set his hands on her hips as she lifted herself back up again.

“Am I being to forward?” She whispered as if someone could be listening, though she smiled like she had no intention of stopping even if someone was. Drac gave her a dopey grin and tried to say ‘no’, but it came out as more of a gurgle. Ericka only laughed and took his face in her hands to continue kissing him.

 

* * *

 

Drac slipped out of Ericka’s quarters the following night, popping his collar up as he did. He looked around nervously, and dusted off his front before starting the walk to the buffet, where everyone would likely be gathered for a late breakfast as usual.

Even though it was impossible for Ericka to leave any marks on his body, he felt paranoid, like everyone he passed could somehow sense the sinful deed that he had done. He greeted monsters as he passed them, each time too loudly, but despite weird looks, no one bothered to question his odd behavior. A gillman, Marty, said hello to him in his gargling voice, and Drac replied too zealously.

“ _Marty!_ How are you my friend, good to see you—how is everyone? _Okay,_ that’s great! See you later!” He danced around the poor monster, shaking his hand and leaving before he could have a chance to answer even one of the count’s questions.

As Drac approached the room with the open buffet, a pair of glasses popped out from the doorway.

“There he is.” Griffin announced smugly. This was enough to alert Frank and Murray of their friend’s arrival, and they rushed to pester him.

“Hey _buddy._ ” Frank smiled knowingly and poked one of his crab claw hands into Drac’s chest. Drac hunched away nervously.

“How was your date with _you-know-who?_ ” Murray waggled his eyebrows. “Mavis said you weren’t in your room this morning—”

“Dad!” Mavis shouted happily from inside the building, and they guys quieted themselves, knowing very well by now that they would face Drac’s wrath should Mavis learn more about his relationship than he deemed appropriate. Drac smiled wide and gave her a hug when she flew up to him.

“Hi, Mavy-Wavy! H-how are you this evening, my little tarantula?” His smile was that of a very guilty man, but Mavis failed to notice.

“Hi dad!” She giggled, but quickly remembered her previous concerns. “Where were you? Dennis said you weren’t in your room when he went to get you.”

Drac laughed painfully.

“ _Oh!_ Right! _Well_ , um, so—” He fidgeted his fingers while he tried to think. “—I uh, I lost track of… _time!_ When I was with Ericka last night. So, she, let me sleep in her quarters… on her… couch. Yes.”

The only one that believed him was Mavis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :D


End file.
